| |
| Enkil | |
|---|---|
| Biographical information | |
| Slain | 1985 |
| Age | 5,999 |
| Physical description | |
| Bloodline | None |
| Gender | Male |
| Hair Color | Short |
| Eye Color | |
| Chronological and political information | |
| Universe | The Vampire Chronicles |
| Creator | Anne Rice |
Enkil and Akasha were the rulers of Kemet (now Egypt) circa 4,020 BC. When he and Akasha were attacked by assassins and left to die, a powerful spirit named Amel intertwined himself with Akasha's spirit as it was leaving her dying body and then forced their combined spirits back into her, making Akasha the first vampire. Akasha then turned to Enkil, who laid dying beside her and healed his wounds by replacing the blood he lost with hers, making him the world's second vampire.
The term Those Who Must Be Kept was coined by the vampire Marius, who was the final caretaker of Akasha and Enkil. Marius learned that anything that befalls Akasha and Enkil, also befalls all vampires. If they were to be injured, so would all vampires in the same manner. If they die, all vampires in the world would die. The caretaker before Marius referred to as the Elder sought to be free of them and wanted to test the theory by placing them in the sun. The two lived, their white skin merely becoming bronzed, but weaker vampires throughout the world were destroyed by spontaneous combustion. The Elder himself, who was a very old, strong vampire, became severely burned and was then destroyed when Akasha rose to crush him and torched what remained of his body.
At numerous points in the canonical history of The Vampire Chronicles, Enkil rises from his throne to defend Akasha from being drained of her powerful blood. In one instance, Marius rescues Lestat from being destroyed by Enkil after Enkil in a jealous rage rises and strikes Lestat away from Akasha while he is drinking from her. Enkil's jealously stemmed from Akasha's uncharacteristic action of summoning Lestat to her and offering her blood for him to drink, which Enkil saw as an amorous gesture. In the past, Akasha only willingly allowed vampires to drink from her if first a formal request was made and only if she determined it was acceptable, none of which Lestat did.
Long before Marius came into conservatorship of Those Who Must Be Kept, they were nearly completely inanimate, seated seemingly unconscious for centuries without moving. This all came to an end in the 1980s, when the music of the vampire rock star Lestat roused Queen Akasha. In her awakening, she killed Enkil, draining him of all his blood as she felt imprisoned and dead around him. When Enkil's husk of a body is discovered by Marius, Akasha thanks him for his centuries of service followed by imprisoning him in a case of ice, leaving him helpless at the shrine at the bottom of his house. With Enkil's powers added to her own, Akasha became the single ancestor of the vampire race.